By Judie Brown
Genesis 5:2 tells us, “He created them male and female. When they were created, he blessed them and named them humankind.” In recent years, however, this truth has been undermined, denied, and otherwise ignored by human beings who perceive themselves as the arbiters of all, including sexual identity.
For example, the manufacturers of DESCOVY for PrEP, a pill designed to protect people from HIV, cautions: “DESCOVY for PrEP [pre-exposure prophylaxis] is not for everyone. It is not for use in people assigned female at birth.”
Its warning is not to avoid sexual relations of one sort or another but rather to convey another type of message.
The key words in the ad are “assigned female at birth.” The statement is false both genetically and otherwise. Nobody is assigned their gender at birth. In fact, one’s gender is manifest at the union of sperm and egg at a baby’s creation. But when social pressure groups are in the business of altering our language by redefining genders, mainstreaming perversion takes a foothold. That includes redefining human sexual identity and advocating for sexual activity outside of marriage.
This is not new. When he was still a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI wrote about the embracing of this lifestyle in his 1986 letter to bishops. He stated:
As in every moral disorder, homosexual activity prevents one’s own fulfillment and happiness by acting contrary to the creative wisdom of God. The Church, in rejecting erroneous opinions regarding homosexuality, does not limit but rather defends personal freedom and dignity realistically and authentically understood. . . .
Just as the Cross was central to the expression of God’s redemptive love for us in Jesus, so the conformity of the self-denial of homosexual men and women with the sacrifice of the Lord will constitute for them a source of self-giving which will save them from a way of life which constantly threatens to destroy them.
And let us not overlook Pope Leo XIV. Catholic Vote explains that, “During the 2012 Synod on Evangelization, then-Fr. Prevost said that mass media in the West ‘is extraordinarily effective in fostering within the general public enormous sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel; for example, abortion, homosexual lifestyle, euthanasia.’”
The point is, with love and charity toward all, the Church has made it clear that the Lord’s design for the human person—His creation of two genders and His merciful call to live the life of chastity until marriage between a man and a woman—is not and never will be out of date. Happiness and joy accompany the person who embraces the love of God not only for herself but for the one with whom she hopes to spend her life when choosing to begin a family.
As pro-life Americans, we strive to live and teach the Gospel of Life by word and by deed. We too are representatives of humankind, and our efforts to spread the love of God are vitally important during these critical moments in history.
As Saint John Paul II wrote:
Sexuality, which enriches the whole person, “manifests its inmost meaning in leading the person to the gift of self in love.” The trivialization of sexuality is among the principal factors which have led to contempt for new life. Only a true love is able to protect life. There can be no avoiding the duty to offer, especially to adolescents and young adults, an authentic education in sexuality and in love, an education which involves training in chastity as a virtue which fosters personal maturity and makes one capable of respecting the “spousal” meaning of the body.
Thus, we can affirm without hesitation the truth that the best response to the homosexual lifestyle propaganda that has become part of our cultural attitudes is to say, with certainty, that when man departs from the designs of God he threatens to the point of destruction not only his own soul but the souls of those influenced by his deceptions.
Humankind deserves to hear, consider, and hopefully embrace principles that result in respect for the spousal meaning of their own bodies and those they care for, even when the world rebukes our message.
As Christ said, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”